My wife went into labor with our first-born child in the wee hours of the morning, August 22, 1971. Why is it that children choose to be born at 3 am?! I clearly remember the nurse coming out of the delivery door with my new little girl in her arms. When she handed me Rebekah, I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. Really. I had to go to work to buy baby formula for this little child! I had to buy her diapers and blankets and clothes. And she didn’t come with instructions (other than the Bible). She cried and my wife cried. I had to get my wife quiet first and then the baby quiet. Was she hungry? Was she sleepy? Was her diaper wet? Was she cold or hot? Or did she just want to play? Hey, can you imagine how Joseph felt? He wasn’t just raising a newborn baby boy; Joseph was raising the Son of God! What if he messed up?! How could Joseph teach Scripture verses to Jesus?! How could Joseph spank the Son of God? Or would he even need to spank the Son of God? My responsibility was one thing, but Joseph’s pressure was on a whole new level! As Joseph traveled to Bethlehem with his very pregnant wife, he did the best that he could for her comfort. And when their baby was born, Joseph did the best that he could to make little Jesus and Mary comfortable. I know that Joseph was comforted himself when the shepherds came to see the Christ child. God had announced to the shepherds that this child was the very Son of God. So, when the shepherds arrived with their story, Joseph was assured that he was raising the Son of God. I’m sure that Joseph said with Mary in Luke 2:19, “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”
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